His Sister
by T-oftheSand
Summary: So he decided that he was going to keep quiet and just watch it happen, because he knew that one way or another, it would. There was no way it wouldn't – Temari had found her match, and he knew that inside her she still knew it, whether she was aware of it yet or not. He knew that meant that she would never let it slide. Because she was still Temari after all. (REVISED 2/12/15)


HIS SISTER

2/1/15

T-oftheSand

I've switched this around as of 2/12/15. I thought it needed a change. There were some inconsistencies in the other version that bothered me. If you do prefer the other version I'll put it back up separately! I still have it set aside, of course.

I do not own Naruto.

...

_She's confused. Clearly. Angry, too..._

_There's no other explanation. There can't be…why else would she be avoiding him? There's no way in hell this would just happen out of the blue, she…_

…_She loves him too much._

Kankuro swallowed hard, and then, for reasons unbeknownst to him, kicked the wall. After thinking about it he figured it must have been because he was feeling his sister's frustration, so he pushed it out of his head and left it at that. Being her brother, he couldn't help but feel it.

He also couldn't help but see it...experience it…_hear_ it. Temari had been out of sorts for days; her temper was considerably shorter. Her fuse was very short even on a good day and she was already frequently difficult to live with, so this little blip with this guy was not making things any easier. His name was Shikamaru Nara – he was a shinobi of the Leaf and he clearly meant more to her than even he, her brother, could understand, but despite this he still couldn't help but feel for her – he even found himself feeling a little disappointed and sad that she was, for some reason, trying to push the one man he had ever seen her love out of her life.

Well, he _did_ know why, and to him it was plain as day. Temari didn't have to tell him – seeing the way her face lit up whenever she saw him and watching how her eyes sparkled ever so slightly when they spoke said it all. As more time passed it had become more and more obvious – his older sister and childhood companion had most certainly fallen in love, and she couldn't hide it. Seeing her try to push the person she had fallen for this hard out of her life for seemingly no reason was incredibly frustrating to him.

_Damn it, Tem…What the hell are you doing?_

Kankuro shook his head. Realistically he didn't need to ask that question because he already knew. There most certainly_ was_ a reason. His sister needed control – she was a downright control _freak_, and he didn't need to think for a second about that – and this was also her first time dealing with something like this. She didn't know what she was doing, and she knew it, and that was precisely why she was avoiding Shikamaru and pretending that the situation didn't exist.

He definitely did know, and he was confident that he was correct. She was confused because she didn't know what to do, and she was angry with herself for not knowing. Temari did_ not_ like not knowing. He knew her well…she had just turned 21, and it had thrown him for a bit of a loop. While it wasn't _his_ birthday, it still meant that he too would be turning 21 soon, and therefore they weren't as young as he had still been seeing them up to that point. He and Temari had been around together for over 20 years now. They had been through and seen a lot – this had only truly hit him after the war had come to a close. They were adults now – their childhood days were most certainly over. He thought to himself that they probably had been for a while and after all this time, if anyone knew her, it was him. It was completely obvious to him that she was struggling.

He became slightly sad when he remembered that it wasn't a secret to him that Temari wasn't exactly happy, and never really had been. After they had met Shikamaru six years ago, he witnessed the connection between the two of them begin to grow stronger and stronger. This had happened despite their obvious differences and he had secretly hoped that their interesting sort of friendship (despite his seeing it as being positive he admitted that it was one of the strangest relationships he had ever seen) would blossom into something more involved. He knew that it would be good for her. He did not know much about relationships, but he did know that it was something that Temari would benefit from, especially if she were to become involved with the right person.

He had recognized Shikamaru as said person fairly quickly after seeing the way they had hit it off, and judging by how Temari had begun to push him away he could tell that she had reached that point too.

She might have been pretending that she didn't feel something, but she clearly did, and Kankuro knew it.

It was scaring her. He was partially surprised and he partially was not. Temari had never been a "people person", and she had always had trouble dealing with situations as sensitive as this…therefore it was not too shocking to him that she was panicking and backing away. He knew that was what was actually going on, despite her appearing only angry on the outside. But he was still somewhat taken aback to see her responding in such a way…running away and hiding like this could have been considered extremely cowardly, especially for her. It was completely uncharacteristic of her, but in his eyes all it really did was confirm her feelings for him. He didn't know much about love but he did know that it definitely had the ability to make you do things you normally wouldn't do.

And if this were a normal situation in which you did things you normally _would_ do, Temari would most certainly have been the one to move first, being, well, Temari, but after remembering that this was definitely_ not_ a normal situation, he wasn't so sure. What concerned him the most was the person on the other side of things couldn't exactly be counted on to move first either; he had faith that Shikamaru's cowardice probably couldn't even be trumped by love. However, he also had faith that Shikamaru genuinely loved her - as much as she loved him - and while he may not have the courage to actually tell her, he would at least _never_ leave, whether she wanted him to or not.

A slight warmth spread through him as he thought of this, finding comfort in knowing that Temari had finally found someone who was deserving of her and thought as highly of her as he did, coward he may be. He knew from watching both of them that there was no way even one of them was going to let it go – even Temari, despite her wanting to so badly right now.

However, even after considering that this was not a normal situation, a large part of him still seriously could not believe that she had actually become this attached to someone like Shikamaru in the first place – the two couldn't be more different, and honestly, prior to seeing the way she had bonded to him he would have expected her to want to do nothing but beat the tar out of him. _...She must _really_ be in deep._

But at this point, he knew that the time to ask questions had long passed. Temari loved this guy, and that was obvious. There was no way any of this would have happened if she didn't. She had never experienced something like this before, and it wasn't time to challenge it now that she actually was. He told himself that all he could really do at this point was support her, because naturally he loved her dearly and he wanted what was best for her.

He also wanted her to get past this damn panic and actually_ talk_ to Shikamaru, because he saw this as being a genuine shot at happiness for her and if anyone deserved to be happy, it was her.

He went to the sink to splash water on his face. The thinking had given him a headache – that, and he had become anxious thinking about how he was going to talk to Temari about rethinking the issue with Shikamaru. He knew it wasn't her fault, but his sister really was clueless. Her insecurities in this situation proved to him that she really did not understand what was going on, as obvious as it was. It was clear as day to most of the people around them (even_ he_ was able to see it) but Temari was entirely different – and, to be blunt, inexperienced. Aside from all of the issues on her side of the situation, he also knew after observing Shikamaru's behavior as well that the feelings were returned. Knowing this gave him joy, but he also felt a pit in his stomach. The last thing he wanted was to see his sister fall over herself having feelings for someone while they were unknowingly returned. It was a near perfect situation that was being masked by a simple lack of communication, and it was killing him. He knew what the problem was, and he wanted to intervene and tell her about what he saw and what he thought – no, _knew_ – was going on.

His stomach felt pickled for a moment when he realized that he was, essentially, _playing cupid_, but he immediately pushed that thought out of his head.

_That_ was not something he wanted to entertain.

He also knew full well that if Temari ever found out what he was thinking of planning, she would not be angry like _normal_ older sisters would be, but would most certainly laugh her ass off at him instead. He loved her, and she was his best friend, but she could _really_ be a pain in the ass. He also couldn't forget that one of her favorite pastimes was teasing him, and therefore he'd never hear the end of it.

_...Maybe this _isn't_ a good idea._

He realized with a smile that on top of it being a bad idea, it was also unnecessary...regardless of insecurities, she was still Temari, and if there was one person Kankuro had faith in it was her. He had never dared to tell her, but she was his role model, his guide...his beloved older sister. As a child he had practically worshiped the ground she walked on, and even now she was someone he had undying confidence in.

And when he was _really_ honest with himself, all pride aside, he realized that he _still_ worshiped the ground she walked on - even now, at age twenty.

So he decided that he was going to keep quiet and just watch it happen, because he knew that one way or another, it would. There was no way it wouldn't – Temari had found her match, and he knew that inside her she still knew it, whether she was aware of it yet or not. He knew that meant that she would never let it slide. Because she was still Temari after all.

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END

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If there's something here that's off that I didn't see please let me know! I'd appreciate it.


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